The recurrence rate of chronic subdural hematoma in patient taking anti-platelet medications or anticoagulant with reversal regimen and early complication after discontinuation of medications

Oral-Poster Presentation IMeeting Theme: Degenerative Lumbar SpineBACKGROUND: Chronic subdural hematoma is commonly seen in elderly patients. At the same time it is very common to encounter elderly patients taking either anti-platelet medications or anticoagulants for cardiovascular or neurovascular diseases. We have practice to reverse the effects anti-platelet drugs and anti-coagulants in patients with chronic subdural hematoma by discontinuation of medications and platelet transfusion or FFP/vitamin K. This is to attempt to compare the recurrence rate in patients taking anti-platelet drugs or anti-coagulant and patients taking neither. Also the complications of discontinuation of these medications are also evaluated …published_or_final_versio

Information seeking behavior of police officers in Hong Kong: an exploratory study

Open URL - http://www.academic-conferences.org/pdfs/ICICKM10-Booklet.pdfThe information seeking behavior of a random sample of 40 Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) officers was investigated from the perspectives of: information seeking behavior; type of searching undertaken; level of sophistication of searching; ability to retrieve required information, and use of the HKPF Library (HKPFL). Frameworks such as: the information seeking process (Chowdhury 2004); the information management cycle (Choo, 1998); and the Information seeking of professionals model (Leckie, Pettigrew & Sylvain 1996), were applied. Data gathering methods included: survey; interview; observation; and case study. Results indicate that the respondents are not, overall, effective information seekers. The respondents generally apply simple retrieval techniques despite perceiving them to be less effective than more advanced techniques. The respondents were often unable to effectively frame simple enquiries. A novice member was less effective and slower at retrieving information than an experienced member, suggesting that transfer of organizational members’ knowledge of information seeking to newer members could be valuable. The sampled HKPF members prefer using print materials to electronic materials or web pages, although these formats are also popular. 27 (67.5%) respondents visit the HKPFL two or less times per week, while 36 (90%) respondents visit the HKPFL website two or less times per week. Most respondents use the HKPFL for leisure rather than work related purposes, although this behavior is both position and department sensitive. Most respondents prefer to browse the collections on shelves and seek help from librarians instead of searching the library catalogue. Recommendations for improving HKPF members’ information skills include: information literacy instruction for new recruits; promoting the HKPFL as an information hub; providing guides for use; and further developing the HKPFL to match members’ information needs by improving collections.published_or_final_versionThe 7th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management & Organisational Learning (ICICKM 2010), Hong Kong, China, 11-12 November 2010. In Proceedings of 7th ICICKM, 2010, p. 11-1

A retrospective review of 38 patients with angiographic-negative spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage - clinical course and diagnostic yield of follow-up radiological workup

Theme: Brain Attack: A New EraPoster PresentationBACKGROUND: Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a commonly seen neurosurgical problem in which the most common etiology is a ruptured intracranial aneurysm. In our center, initial investigations usually include CT angiography (CTA) followed by digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Patients with negative initial CTA and DSA, however, are not uncommon. Yet there is no well-established guideline or protocol for additional diagnostic ...postprin

Toll-like receptor 4 mediates tubular inflammation in diabetic nephropathy

published_or_final_versionThe 15th Medical Research Conference, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, 16 January 2010. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2010, v. 16 n. 1, suppl. 1, p. 39, abstract no. 6

Severe macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia associated with macrolide failure

We investigated differences in outcomes between 68 children hospitalized with macrolide-sensitive Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MSMP group) and 25 children hospitalized with macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae pneumonia (MRMP group). In the MRMP group, 19 children received macrolides and clinical failure occurred in six of which five had pneumonia progression during therapy.published_or_final_versio

Tissue kallikrein mediates pro-inflammatory pathways and activation of protease-activated receptor-4 in proximal tubular epithelial cells.

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Evaluation of an indigenous early intervention model for Chinese persons with early dementia

ePoster Session 6: Strengthening the social and cultural wellbeing of individuals, families and communities – promoting resilience, empowerment, safety and respectConference Theme: Promoting Social and Economic Equality: Responses from Social Work and Social DevelopmentIntroduction: The World Health Organization considers Dementia as a public health priority. The ageing population logicaly implies a growing population in persons with Dementia. Tung Wah Group of Hospitals started the Circle of Care project in 209. Integrating the Chinese cultural concept of body and mind linkage, the organization developed an evidence-driven, culturaly sensitve and holistic intervention for persons with early Dementia. Aims: This study is to evaluate the efectivenes of this pilot care intervention. Methodology: The study adopted a quasi-experimental design. Al the older adults who joined the programme were invited to join the study as participants of the intervention group. Older adults with a compatible mental abilty recruited from a Day Care Centre in the same district were invited to join as participants of the comparison group. The participants in the intervention group were interviewed before the intervention (t0), right after the intervention (t1) and 3 months after the intervention (t2). Information was colected from the care-givers as wel. As for the participants in the comparison group, interviews were ofered at t0 and t2 only. Dependent variables include the cognitve abilty, physical abilty, quality of life and depresion of the older adults as wel as the perceived relationship betwen the older adults and the carers. Findings: Thirty-two older adults and 31 carers joined the intervention group with 2 older adults in the comparison group. The within group analysis of the intervention group showed statistical signifcant changes in the cognitve abilty, quality of life and depresed mod of the older adults. The betwen group analysis indicated diferences in expected direction. In particular, the changes in functional reach test, depresion and quality of life were with statistical signifcance. Conclusion: The pilot study shows that he intervention is efective.published_or_final_versio

Using bevacizumab in the fight against malignant glioma: First results in Asian patients

Objectives To investigate the efficacy and safety profile of bevacizumab in combination with irinotecan in Hong Kong Chinese patients with recurrent malignant glioma and to determine whether their response differed from that reported in other populations. Design Retrospective study. Setting Two private clinics and a public hospital in Hong Kong. Patients Fourteen individuals who presented with recurrent glioma presenting to the hospital between November 2005 and November 2009. Intervention Salvage therapy with bevacizumab (10 mg/kg) and irinotecan (125 mg/m 2 [340 mg/m 2 for those taking enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs]) on a 14-day schedule. Results A radiological response was observed in 12 (86%) of the patients, four (33%) of whom had a complete response. The median progression-free survival was 6 (range, 1-15) months; 71% remained progression-free at 6 months. The median overall survival was 18 (range, 9-61) months. The most common adverse events during the bevacizumab and irinotecan treatment period were haematological; five patients had grade 2/3 adverse events. Pulmonary embolism occurred in two patients, one of whom died. Intracranial haemorrhage was not detected in any of the 14 treated patients. Conclusions Bevacizumab plus irinotecan was at least as effective at treating Chinese patients with recurrent glioma as previously reported in clinical trials in different patient populations.published_or_final_versio

Non-viral Smad7 gene delivery and attenuation of postoperative peritoneal adhesion in an experimental model

Background: Postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Smad7, a protein that occupies a strategic position in fibrogenesis, inhibits the transforming growth factor (TGF) β/Smad signalling pathway. In this study the therapeutic potential of exogenous Smad7 in preventing fibrogenesis in postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion was investigated. Methods: Intra-abdominal adhesion was induced in a rodent model by peritoneal abrasion. Smad7 was delivered into the peritoneal cavity by a non-viral ultrasound-microbubble-mediated naked gene transfection system. The effect of Smad7 transgene on adhesion formation was studied by measuring changes in TGF-β, fibrogenic factors, α-SMA and Smad2/3 activation in the anterior abdominal wall. Results: Four weeks after surgical abrasion, all rats developed significant peritoneal adhesion with enhanced TGF-β expression, increased levels of extracellular matrix components and activated myofibroblasts, accompanied by decreased Smad7 expression and increased Smad2/3 activation. In rats treated with the Smad7 transgene, the incidence and severity of peritoneal adhesion were significantly reduced, with biochemical downregulation of fibrogenic factors and inhibition of Smad2/3 activation. Serial quantitation using magnetic resonance imaging revealed a significant reduction in adhesion areas from day 14 onwards. Conclusion: Ultrasound-microbubble-mediated gene transfection provides timely targeted gene delivery for the treatment of postoperative peritoneal adhesions. Copyright © 2009 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.postprin

Do persons with intelectual disabilties understand death?

Concurent Sesion: 11EConference Theme: Promoting Social and Economic Equality: Responses from Social Work and Social DevelopmentBackground: With the longer lifespan of the persons with Intelectual Disabilties (PWID), they have a higher chance of outliving their parents. The los of parents among PWID is intricate because of the exceptionaly intimate parent-child relationship. Yet, PWID are often considered as incapable to understand the concept of death, thus do not have the abilty to grieve. Aim: The study is to explore PWID’s level of understanding of death. Methodology: Persons with mild to moderate level of ID, who are service users of the Rehabiltation services of Tung Wah Group Hospitals, are the participants in this study. A stratifed random sampling aproach is adopted. Data were colected through an in-depth interview, guided by a standardized protocol. In particular, one of thre vignetes describing death-related incidents was used to ases the understanding of five dimensions of death: causality, inevitabilty, finality, non-functionality, and universality. Self-care abilty, bereavement experience and demographics were measured as wel. Findings: 104 participants joined the study, with 60 having had bereavement experiences. More than half of the participants showed a ful understanding towards the ireversibilty and non-functionality dimensions respectively. Around a third showed a ful understanding towards the universality and causality dimensions respectively. 31.7% of participants showed a ful understanding to the inevitabilty dimension. Gender and self-care abilty sems to have minimal efect in understanding the diferent dimension of conceptualization of death. Bereavement experiences were found to be corelated signifcantly with nearly al the dimensions (χ 2 ranged from 4.48 to 6.03, p < 0.05), except for ireversibilty. Conclusions: Though not al PWID can understand the concept of death, a signifcant group of participants, even asesed to be with moderate grade of intelectual disabilty, showed a ful understanding towards diferent dimensions of death conceptualization. It definitely refutes the hypothesis of persons with ID not understanding death.published_or_final_versio